UAE: Free legal aid for Filipino expats dealing with loans, family issues

Dubai - Waivers of about Dh720,000 in immigration fines have been secured by the veteran lawyer with the consulate in the past.

The Philippine Counsulate in Dubai is conducting a free online session on June 18 to provide legal aid to Filipino expatriates based in the UAE.

The hour-long session is being conducted with Gulf Law and aims to provide legal assistance and guidance on how to deal with credit card debt and bank loans to about 500 people who register for this event.

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“This is the first time we will do this online,” said Barney Almazar, Director at the corporate-commercial department of Gulf Law. "We have been providing face-to-face free legal aid since 2013. So far, we have assisted more than 80,000 people. The topics vary from loans, employment, family issues (child support, divorce), and immigration."

Over the last several years, the consulate has been able to guide and help thousands of Filipinos on financial issues. “We have cases where credit card defaulters only paid Dh12,000 out of Dh1 million liability,” adds Almazar.

The veteran lawyer with the consulate has also helped secure waivers of about Dh720,000 in immigration fines.

The online event will be restricted to 500 guests, but if there are more people who show interest, the consulate could look at conducting another session.